Communication (Journalism) Honours Thesis at Deakin University, Australia Faculty of Arts and Education June

Inside the camps 
While the Federal Government has spent many millions of dollars detaining refugees on Manus 
and Nauru Islands 
in the name of ‘border protection’ (Karp P, 2018, ‘Australia’s ‘border 
protection’ policies cost taxpayers $4bn last year’, The Guardian, January 4), a non-
government organisation which had access to Manus Island reported to The Guardian about 
the deplorable condition of the camp there. The 742 people who refused to leave the camps 
stayed there for 23 days in very poor conditions. They lived in abandoned buildings and used 
the timber frames as firewood for cooking. They had no water and used the rain to clean 
themselves rather than having a shower or bath because they were not available. There was no 
electricity, fans, or fridges. Their furniture was stolen by local people and there was no 
appropriate medical treatment. In some cases, there were even no beds. A documentary video 
produced by Al Jazeera underscored the harsh living status of refugees on Manus Island (Al 
Jazeera, 
2017, ‘Manus Island refugees dig for water as Australia closes cam’”, November 2).
On the Nauru refugee's camp, the situation is similar. Despite the fact that human rights 
activists and organizations have been struggling to at least save the children from the insecure 
and unsafe condition of Nauru Camp, their voices are still not heard by the Australian 
government. 
‘Suicide attempts and horrifying acts of self-harm are drawing fresh attention to 
the suffering of refugee children on Nauru, in what is being described as a "mental health crisis
” 
(Harrison 
V, 2018, BBC News, ‘Nauru refugees: The island where children have given up on 
life
’, September 1).
Boochani (2018) - one of the subjects of this study 
– has reported from inside the Manus Island 
camp to the world over the last four years. His reports have been published in national and 
international media and read both inside and outside of Australia. About 37,000 people are now 
following his Twitter account which provides first-hand news from inside Manus Island. This 
is important because no journalists have been allowed to visit and report from there ( Karp P, 
2016, The Guardian, 
‘Keeping journalists out of detention centres helps stop boats, says 
Cormann
’, Jun 14).
In No Friend but the Mountains, which was written and sent to a translator through WhatsApp 
messages, Behrouz Boochani explained the poor and difficult conditions of the camps 
including long queues, starvation, no cold water in summer, bad food, sickness with no medical 
treatment, hopelessness, anxiety, fighting, and even death.

---

Wasted Lives 20 
In one of his latest posts on Twitter (2019), Behrouz Boochani challenges the Australian 
Government regarding the billions of dollars spent on Manus Island and Nauru:
I really would like to ask the media and other people who can investigate -if you are truly against 
corruption, please follow the contracts between Home Affairs and the companies on Manus & Nauru. 
Try to find an answer to the question: how did they spend billions? 
The Australian Psychological Society has regularly warned the Australian Government, as 
have human rights organisations, that long-term detention creates severe psychological 
problems which are not only contrary to human rights but also cause psychological problems 
for refugees even after receiving an Australian visa ( Gridley, Morsillo & Sampson 2012). As 
well as noting that Australian immigration policies unfairly harm the mental health and survival 
of asylum seekers and refugees, especially children, they recommend that Australia should 
remove the policy of mandatory detention and if any standard health and security checks are 
required, they should be performed onshore.